Guy Ritchie takes popular 60's spy series, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., to new heights

Henry Cavill ("Man of Steel") stars as Napoleon Solo opposite Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") as Illya Kuryakin in director Guy Ritchie's action adventure The Man From U.N.C.L.E., a fresh take on the hugely popular 1960s television series.

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. centres on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organisation, which is bent on destabilising the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organisation, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. also stars Alicia Vikander ("Ex Machina") and Elizabeth Debicki ("The Great Gatsby"), with Jared Harris ("Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows"), and Hugh Grant as Waverly.

The screenplay was written by Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram, who previously collaborated on re-imagining the classic detective Sherlock Holmes in two hit films. The story is by Jeff Kleeman & David Campbell Wilson and Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram, based on the television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

John Davis ("Chronicle"), Steve Clark-Hall ("RocknRolla," the "Sherlock Holmes" films), Lionel Wigram, and Guy Ritchie produced the film, with David Dobkin serving as executive producer.

Ritchie's behind-the-scenes creative team included two-time Oscar-nominated director of photography John Mathieson ("The Phantom of the Opera," "Gladiator"), production designer Oliver Scholl ("Jumper," "Edge of Tomorrow"), editor James Herbert (the "Sherlock Holmes" films, "Edge of Tomorrow"), Oscar-nominated costume designer Joanna Johnston ("Lincoln"), and composer Daniel Pemberton ("The Counselor").

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. releases in South Africa on Friday, 21 August 2015 and will also be available in IMAX.